DHARAMSHALA: Tibetans in exile on Sunday remembered their brethren suffering repression under the Chinese rule while observing the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture scheduled on 26 June. The day was observed on 22 June in Dharamshala in view of a large of number of Tibetans leaving for the Kalachakra teaching in Ladakh by 26 June.
The Health Department of the Central Tibetan Administration and Gu-Chu-Sum, an ex-political Tibetan prisoners association, jointly organised an event to mark the day in Dharamshala. Hundreds of Tibetans including Golog Jigme, a Tibetan monk who recently escaped to India from the Chinese captivity in Tibet, joined the programme.
A minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to all those Tibetans who sacrificed their lives and suffering immense for the cause of Tibet under the Chinese rule.
Addressing the gathering, Health Kalon Dr. Tsering Wangchuk said the day is being observed to express support and solidarity with all those people who are suffering torture, which is described by human rights organisations as the “cruel violation of human rights”.
He said the objective of this year’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is to fight against impunity with which torture is committed. He underlined that the international community and individuals have the responsibility to provide legal remedies and awareness to alleviate those suffering torture in different parts of the world including Tibet.
He said the Tibetan administration and NGOs should make collective efforts to provide medical and livelihood support to those Tibetans who escaped to exile from the Chinese persecution.
Tibetan political prisoner Golog Jigme spoke about how he was tortured in the prison by the Chinese authorities.
The United Nations said in a statement: “Torture seeks to annihilate the victim’s personality and denies the inherent dignity of the human being. The United Nations has condemned torture from the outset as one of the vilest acts perpetrated by human beings on their fellow human beings.”
On 12 December 1997, by resolution 52/149, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 26 June the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, with a view to the total eradication of torture and the effective functioning of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, (resolution 39/46), annex, which entered into force on 26 June 1987.
